The verdict for the Saddam Hussein trial has been set to
November 5th, 2006, two days before the US mid-term elections on November 7th. While White House Republicans have undoubtedly timed the verdict to benefit them in the mid-terms, Democrats have an excellent opportunity to seize here.
We need to make a strong case that the Bush administration has synchronized the verdict with the US mid-term elections, and that this is emblematic of Republicans prioritizing their politics over progress in Iraq and our soldiers lives.
First, let's consider what evidence we have that the Hussein verdict has been synched to the mid-terms.
UPDATE: NOW THAT I KNOW THAT SUNDAY IS INDEED A WORK DAY IN IRAQ, SOME OF THE CONTENT BELOW IS IRRELEVANT. WHAT REMAINS RELEVANT, HOWEVER, IS THE CALL FOR EVIDENCE OF A PATTERN OF IRAQ PLANNING AND TIMING OF EVENTS IN IRAQ TO REPUBLICAN POLITICAL AIMS IN THE US.
When I read that the verdict was coming two days before the mid-terms, I immediately thought it was strange that the verdict would be read on a Sunday instead of a Monday.
I looked up every date I could find relating to the Hussein trial. Not a single court day that I could find occured on a Saturday or a Sunday. It appears that weekends were never spent in court. I have included all the dates and days in the Wikipedia Hussein trial timeline below as evidence of this. If someone can find out a definite answer on whether any court dates were held on weekends, I would appreciate it:
11/28/05: MONDAY: trial adjourned until 12/05/05
12/05/05: MONDAY: Hussein defense storms out of court
12/07/05: WEDNESDAY: Hussein refuses to enter court
12/12/05: MONDAY: Hussein accuses captors of torture
1/23/06: MONDAY: Chief judge replaced by another Kurdish chief judge
3/15/06: WEDNESDAY: Hussein called as witness
6/19/06: MONDAY: Prosecutor calls for death penalty for Hussein
6/21/06: WEDNESDAY: Hussein chief defense lawyer assasinated. (Date doesn't matter on this one, but I wanted to stick to Wikipedia's timeline.)
6/27/06: TUESDAY: Hussein lawyers call press conference
9/20/06: WEDNESDAY: Second judge is removed after saying Hussein was not a dictator.
Again, there are NO Sundays.
I am curious to know what evidence other readers might have. Please comment with your ideas.
Second. Democrats need to show that the timing of this event is part of a trend of Republicans putting their political priorities before the success of our mission in Iraq and the lives of our soldiers.
The politicizing of the war began well before the first shot was ever fired. In selling the war to America, Rumsfeld and Bush forsake the lives of our soldiers and the success of the mission to rally support for a clean "six day" war. Last month General Mark Scheid came forward to let America know that the reason there was no post-war planning was that Rumsfeld and Bush didn't want any record that they were aware of the realities of what the war would be like.
The decision to put politics over what is right in Iraq continued from the non-planning stage through the drastic loss of American lives that occured immediately after the 2004 elections through the pre-election Hussein verdict and the post-election James Baker and his Iraq Study Group's report that will "rule out the prospect of victory for America."
I would like to put together a timeline of events in Iraq that correspond to the political needs of the Bush administration to make a stronger case about the choreographing of the Hussein trial, so please leave any suggestions for inclusions below.
Let's own this.
Let's make the Republicans decision to put politics over success in Iraq an issue that backfires on their lack of leadership rather than empowers it.